Joanna Whitworth has written 7 posts

Take your time to match your soft furnishings to the style of the room and the season, and you will create a lovely, cosy atmosphere for you and your family.

This is the season of “hygge”, the all-but-unpronounceable, untranslatable Danish concept of wintry happiness – playing board games beside a roaring fire with mulled wine and, of course, cosy curtains.

Curtains offer warmth, intimacy and privacy. Not only practical, they are also a fundamental part of your decor. They literally dress your room. As such, they deserve some thought and planning.

Length is just one consideration. In a cold room, where a radiator is vital beneath a window, you might not want to block the heat with to-the-floor curtains. Around a sweeping bay window, consider four individual curtains instead of two large ones to maximise light into the room.

Think about the purpose of curtains in each room of your house. In the bedroom, thick black-out curtains are desirable – and possibly blinds as well – but in a conservatory you might prefer a lighter, more ornamental style.

Plumbs has a wealth of expertise and experience to help you make the right decision.

“We have been very pleased with the manner, knowledge and ‘know-how’ of the Plumbs home consultant,” said Mr M S Monkhouse from Warwickshire. “We have always bought ready-made curtains and we were cautious about getting a sales consultant to the house, but we have learnt through this experience that it is worth it. Our new made-to-measure curtains make the whole downstairs of our house look as it ought to look.”

Don’t forget the incidentals. A wooden or brass pole can look incredibly striking, but heavy curtains on rings don’t always pull well. Also, repeatedly drawing pale-coloured curtains by hand can leave finger marks. It may be worth considering an assisted pulley system or track.

How would you like your curtains to look, both open and closed? Do you want rings to show or would you prefer them hidden behind extended pleats? Or would you prefer a more traditional look: pelmets and tie-backs?

Tie-backs or brackets need to be considered carefully. Yes, they look neat and tidy – and, importantly, make the most of the light during the day – but some fabrics do not respond well to being pulled back in this way and can crease. Again, Plumbs can advise you on the best solutions.

“As soon as I received my new made-to-measure curtains from Plumbs, I wanted to formally thank them for their excellent workmanship,” said Mrs Curran, from Carshalton. “Every time I go into the bedroom I admire the beautiful, silvery grey curtains which have totally transformed the room.”

If you want to maximise light, you will need to factor in a longer rail or pole – and more material – to ensure that, when open, the curtains pull clear of the window.

But, of course, the most important decision is choice of fabric. Do you opt for the latest trend or would you prefer a more neutral material? It depends on personal choice as well as your decor. Curtains should subtly complement a room: they should neither fade away into obscurity, nor clash.

The nights are drawing in and the air is getting cooler, so now may be the perfect time to prep your home ready for the winter months. Choosing quality curtains is one of the quickest ways to do this and they can help to save around 15%-17% of the heat lost through windows which will make your home feel much cosier.

Patterns & Print

Neutral walls can handle patterned or coloured curtains, and will help create a feature of your window space.

I read a great article here about how using Feng Shui in your bedroom can give you a better nights sleep. I've got to say, I am very sceptical when it comes to anything like this but I found some of the tips to be mainly common sense. I have however tried a few and something must've worked because my wife and I had the best nights sleep ever.

So if you find it difficult falling or staying asleep, waking up in the morning feeling uneasy or irritated then you might as well give some of these tips a try as you have nothing to lose. I think the most obvious tip and the one to have the most effect is this one:

"Cover windows with curtains so that you can have a cocoon-like feeling at night, and they'll keep the sunlight out in the morning. Being exposed to sunlight first thing in the morning is said to influence your serotonin levels and affect you for the rest of the day. Once you're ready to wake up, you can easily pull the curtains open and flood your room with natural light."

We recently received a letter from a very kind gentleman who had made a mistake when placing his order for made-to-measure curtains for his bay window. This was because he did not take into account that each curtain is cut to half the width of the measurement we are given so the curtains will open in the middle. Unfortunately when placing his order he only gave us the width of one of the side windows. This resulted in the smaller curtains only being half the desired length.

Sometimes it can be quite confusing when measuring for difficult windows such as bay windows, which is why we offer a free measuring and fitting service. However the gentleman very kindly gave us the suggestion that we should up-date the measuring guide on our website or add a section to explain the measurements for these more difficult windows. We are doing exactly what he suggested and within the near future we will have a series of measuring guides, from the simple to more intricate window types.

In the mean-time if you need any help or advice on how to measure for curtains, please don't hesitate to contact us. Alternatively you can request a home visit from one of our consultants who will measure and fit for free.